22 ANNUAL BEPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1918. 



INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES. 



The total number of packages handled by the International Ex- 

 change Service during the year was 266,946, weighing 182,825 pounds, 

 as compared with 399,695 pounds in 1917, the decrease being due 

 almost entirely to war conditions. 



The operations of the exchange service have been somewhat cur- 

 tailed during the past year by the impossibility at times of obtaining 

 cargo space. This condition and the excessively high freight rates 

 necessitated shipments by mail where this could be done advan- 

 tageously. Notwithstanding the scarcity of shipping, it is significant 

 that governmental licensing boards for imports and exports, both of 

 this country and of Great Britain, have recognized the importance of 

 keeping open the interchange of scientific information by granting 

 licenses to the Institution and its agents for the transmission of this 

 material. Only three consignments of exchanges have been lost 

 through hostile action since the beginning of the war. 



In the interchange of Government publications 91 sets of United 

 States governmental documents were received for distribution to 

 designated depositories in foreign countries. 



INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC 

 LITERATURE. 



The United States Bureau of the International Catalogue of Scien- 

 tific Literature is carried on by the Smithsonian Institution by means 

 of a congressional appropriation. The central bureau is in London, 

 where data from regional bureaus are assembled and published in 

 series of annual catalogues. The war has very greatly interfered 

 with this work, some countries being so much in arrears in their con- 

 tributions toward its support as to necessitate unusually large sub- 

 scriptions from several institutions. 



As its name indicates, the catalogue is made up of bibliographical 

 references to scientific literature in various countries. The United 

 States bureau since 1910 has collected data for this country, aggregat- 

 ing more than 350,000 reference cards. The 17 annual volumes issued 

 in London are sold at an annual subscription price of $85, chiefly to 

 large reference libraries and important scientific institutions, the 

 proceeds covering in part the cost of the publication. 



At the international convention in London in 1910 a committee was 

 authorized to secure cooperation with other similar organizations in 

 preparation of the catalogue and to broaden its scope to include tech- 

 nical industries closely allied to researches in pure science. This 

 would not only lead to economy of labor but would provide a uniform 

 reference to the literature of all sciences. 



